Reading First and Interventions

1. Reading First and Interventions Georgia Reading First Conference Stuart Greenberg ERRFTAC sgreenberg@fcrr.org

2. Acknowledgements ERRFTAC/FCRR CRRFTAC WRRFTAC

3. Today’s Presentation Two Parts • What’s possible in our schools 2. Facilitators and Barriers

4. Current Understanding • High quality classroom instruction can significantly reduce the numbers of children who struggle with reading • Intervention in addition to classroom instruction is very effective.

5. Reading ComprehensionOne Model: A Thought To Ponder Fundamental Skills (phonological awareness, Alphabetic Principal) Word Reading Verbal Language Skills (Receptive & Expressive) Reading Comprehension Fluency Listening Comprehension

6. Intervention: A School Wide Focus Step 1: Quality Core Enhanced general education classroom instruction. Step 2 : Supportive Instruction Child receives more intense intervention in general education, presumably in small groups. Step 3 : Intensive Intervention Intervention increases in intensity and duration. Support typically needed across years.

7. Evidence from one school that we can do substantially better than ever before School Characteristics: 70% Free and Reduced Lunch (going up each year) 65% minority (mostly African-American) Elements of Curriculum Change: Movement to a more balanced reading curriculum beginning in 1994-1995 school year (incomplete implementation) for K-2 Improved implementation in 1995-1996 Implementation in Fall of 1996 of screening and more intensive small group instruction for at-risk students

8. Screening at beginning of first grade, with extra instruction for those in bottom 30-40% 31.8 20.4 10.9 6.7 3.7 Hartsfield Elementary Progress over five years Proportion falling below the 25th percentile in word reading ability at the end of first grade 30 20 10 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 Average Percentile 48.9 55.2 61.4 73.5 81.7 for entire grade (n=105)

9. 31.8 30 Proportion falling below the 25th Percentile 20.4 20 10.9 10 6.7 3.7 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 Average Percentile 48.9 55.2 61.4 73.5 81.7 30 Hartsfield Elementary Progress over five years Proportion falling below the 25th Percentile 20 14.5 9.0 10 5.4 2.4 1996 1997 1998 1999 Average Percentile 58.2 67.1 74.1 81.5

10. 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 FCAT Performance in Spring, 2003 Level 2 Level 1 Hartsfield Elem. State Average

11. Assumptions • The numbers of children who appear to be struggling is related to the quality and intensity of instruction. • Some children will require more high quality instruction in smaller groups in order to respond well. • Some children will not respond adequately, even with the best intervention.

12. Potential Stumbling Blocks to Becoming a Good Reader(NRC Report, 1998) • Difficulty learning to read words accurately and • fluently 2. Insufficient vocabulary, general knowledge, and reasoning skills to support comprehension of written language 3. Absence or loss of initial motivation to read, or failure to develop a mature appreciation of the rewards of reading.

13. High Quality Instruction

14. The Impact of Intervention Only

15. Instruction + Intervention in First Grade

16. Core Reading Instruction Intervention Very small groups Double Dose Reading

17. Looking Inside The Brain Imaging

18. 5 Year Olds Before Learning To Read Right Left Right Left

19. Good Intervention Normalizes Brain Activation Patterns Right Left Before Intervention normalized After Intervention

20. Answers – In a perfect world • What percentage of children require secondary intervention? 7% or less • What percentage of children don’t respond adequately to quality instruction and supportive intervention? 2% or less • How much time is need to determine if intensive intervention is warranted? Around 30 weeks

21. The Real World What are the barriers to getting these results?

22. Barrier 1: Expertise • Teaching reading is a job for an expert.

23. Barrier 2: Infrastructure • Teaching students in very small groups is more beneficial than in medium or whole groups. • An intervention teacher can only work with 3 to 5 children during each instructional session. • Children need to be grouped according to shared needs and groupings should be modified across the year. • School leadership has to support small group intervention.

24. Effective Model Intervention teacher(s) provides small group in addition to core through-out the day. Special education, Title1, and general education work together seamlessly. Infrastructure

25. Use time wisely, because every minute counts This means carefully choosing instructional materials based on what research suggests is most effective. reducing downtime. Arranging instruction that increases each individual child’s time actively engaged in reading and reading related activities. Barrier 3:Time

26. Every Minute Counts This means • carefully choosing instructional materials based on what research suggests is most effective. • reducing down time. • using strategies that increase each individual child’s time actively engaged in reading and reading related activities.

27. The consensus view of most important instructional features for interventions Interventions are more effective when they: Provide systematic and explicit instruction on whatever component skills are deficient: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, reading comprehension strategies Provide a significant increase in intensity of instruction Provide ample opportunities for guided practice of new skills Provide systematic cueing of appropriate strategies in context Provide appropriate levels of scaffolding as children learn to apply new skills

28. Each year skills and knowledge required to meet standards increases Must be able to draw upon more extensive background knowledge Must learn to deal with longer sentences and more complex ideas Must acquire many new vocabulary words Must learn to recognize many new words accurately and automatically 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th

29. Anything you’d like to add?

30. That’s it – enjoy the rest of your day!